NavTools
Seven Minutes With God
In
1882, a Cambridge University student was so determined to pray and read
his Bible every morning that he rigged a contraption to help him get
out of bed. The vibration of an alarm clock set fishing tacking in
motion and the sheets, clipped to the line, moved into the air. Here
was a young man who wanted to get up to meet his God!
If you need help getting a “quiet time”
established in your life, consider the following outline for spending
seven minutes with God. Bob Foster, the long-time Navigator who
originally wrote this outline, said, “Do not become devoted to the
habit, but to the Savior. Do it not because other men are doing it—not
as a spiritless duty every morning, not merely as an end in itself, but
because God has granted the priceless privilege of fellowship with
Himself.”
How do you spend these seven minutes?
½ Minute
Invest the first 30 seconds preparing your heart. You might pray,
“Lord, cleanse my heart so You can speak to me through the Scriptures.
Make my mind alert, my soul active, and my heart responsive. Surround
me with Your presence during this time.”
4 Minutes
Take the next four minutes to read the Bible. Your greatest need is to
hear a word from God. Allow the Word to strike fire in your heart. Meet
the Author!
2½ Minutes
After God has spoken through His Book, then speak to Him in prayer. One
method is to incorporate four areas of prayer that you can remember
with the word ACTS.
A Adoration. This is the purest kind of prayer because it’s all for God. Tell the Lord that you love Him. Reflect on His greatness.
C Confession. Having seen Him, you
now want to be sure every sin is cleansed and forsaken. “Confession”
comes from a root word meaning “to agree together with.” When we apply
this to prayer, it means we agree with God’s estimation of what we’ve
done.
T Thanksgiving. Think of several specific things to thank Him for: your family, your business, your church—even thank Him for hardships.
S Supplication. This means to “ask for, earnestly and humbly.” Ask for others, then ask for yourself. Include people around the world, missionaries, friends, and those who have yet to hear about Jesus.
It all adds up to seven minutes. “This is simply a guide,” Bob emphasized. “Very soon you will discover that it is impossible to spend only seven minutes with the Lord. An amazing thing happens—seven minutes become 20, and it’s not long before you’re spending 30 precious minutes with Him.”
To order copies of the booklet Seven Minutes with God, go to the NavPress website at www.navpress.com or call 1 (800) 366-7788.
